Mattachine Society

The Mattachine Society was an early American gay rights organization founded in Los Angeles in 1950. It built networks for gay men and challenged social stigma and legal discrimination.

Harry Hay: Harry Hay was an American labor activist and gay rights organizer who co-founded the Mattachine Society. He initiated the organizing effort that became the society.
Mattachine Review: Mattachine Review was a magazine published by the Mattachine Society from 1955 to 1966. It circulated the society's arguments and connected members beyond local meetings.
Stonewall riots: The Stonewall riots were protests against a police raid at New York City's Stonewall Inn in June 1969. They marked a new phase of activism after the earlier homophile era.
Frank Kameny: Frank Kameny was an American gay rights activist who challenged his dismissal from federal service in the 1950s. His direct-action approach became influential as activism moved beyond early Mattachine caution.
Rudi Gernreich: Rudi Gernreich was an Austrian-born American fashion designer and political activist who helped found the Mattachine Society. He joined the original Los Angeles organizing circle.
Homophile journalism: Homophile journalism was the mid-twentieth-century press created to inform and connect gay and lesbian communities. The society used publications to build community under censorship and surveillance.
Gay Liberation Front: The Gay Liberation Front was a radical gay rights organization formed in New York City after the Stonewall riots. Its militancy contrasted with the society's early emphasis on respectability and gradual change.
Society for Human Rights: The Society for Human Rights was a Chicago organization founded in 1924, among the earliest known gay rights groups in the United States. It shows that organized gay rights activism predated Mattachine by decades.
Communist Party USA: The Communist Party USA is a political party founded in 1919 that advocates communism in the United States. Hay's past membership shaped founders' debates over secrecy and political risk.
Gay bar: A gay bar is a drinking establishment that primarily serves lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patrons. Bars offered social spaces that the society's meetings could complement and organize around.

Linked from 9 pages